Wes Anderson Brings the Quirk Factor to the Hyundai Azera

Did you know that it’s already been five years since Wes Anderson’s last live-action feature, The Darjeeling Limited? Before Anderson’s new movie, Moonrise Kingdom, hits theaters in May, the cinematic master of quirkiness is taking a turn behind the camera for the new Hyundai Azera. Excluding a starring role in American Express’ “My Life, My Card” campaign four years ago, this marks Anderson’s first time doing commercial directing since shooting six spots for AT&T’s “Your Seamless World” campaign in 2007.

Collaborating with Innocean Worldwide and Moxie Pictures, Anderson’s first of two spots for Hyundai, “Modern Life,” finds a suburban mother hiding in her Azera in order to momentarily escape from her quirky family and their quirky household. It’s difficult to tell whether or not the mother’s actions would count as either spousal abuse or child neglect should her husband discover her deceptive, evasive tactics.

The second spot, “Talk to My Car,” finds a slightly happier family traveling through a number of Anderson-esque retro environments with the help of a morphing Azera. If anything, it makes you wonder whether or not the director would be open to helming a remake of Inspector Gadget anytime soon with Adrien Brody in the title role, Jason Schwartzman as Penny (by default), Owen Wilson as Brain the Dog and Bill Murray as Dr. Claw. If you can cast this hypothetical movie better, please do so in the comments. Credits after the jump.

Update: We would like to note that the Moxie camp takes issue with AgencySpy’s use of the term “quirk” in describing Mr. Anderson’s work. Rather, they would like us to use the term “His World” when describing Mr. Anderson’s quirky quirkiness.